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| Thousands flee homes along LoC | | | Arnia, Oct 7: Women and children residing near the border leave their homes on a horse cart as they move to safer areasWomen and children residing near the border leave their homes on a horse cart as they move to safer areas after firing from the Pakistani side at Arnia sector in Jammu on Tuesday.
The spell of terror unleashed by the recent ceasefire violations by Pakistan along the border in Jammu and Kashmir has triggered an exodus in the frontier areas of the state as thousands flee their homes to escape the constant firing which has so far left six persons dead and several others injured.
The blistering night-long mortar attacks and the rattle of heavy guns has sent villagers scurrying with fear and they are piling onto buses, tractor-trolleys and bullock carts in order to move to safety.
Six persons have been killed and 56 others injured in the shelling and firing by Pakistani troops from across the Line of Control (LoC) and International Border in the Jammu and Poonch districts in a total of 19 ceasefire violations in the first week of October this year.
Over 5,000 border dwellers have fled their homes to take shelter with either their relatives or at Army camps.
With only some utensils, clothes and other necessary items bundled into their bullock cart as they fled their mudhouse in the Mahasha Kote hamlet, Gursharan's family of five mirrored the urgency of hundreds of others anxious to get out of harm's way.
"We were sitting ducks for Pakistani troops as they repeatedly shelled our village over the last two days... We are fortunate that we escaped. Only a few shells landed close to our house," said Gursharan's wife, Savita Devi.
Gursharan, who is a small farmer in the border belt, feels it is better to leave for some time than to die.
"We do not know how much time it will take to stop this border shelling," he said.
Blood-stained beds, rooftops blown off by mortar shells and windows and walls sprayed with bullets bore mute testimony to the devastation which the ceasefire violations by Pakistan have caused in these hamlets. A smell of cordite and gunpowder hung in the air and carcasses of animals were strewn everywhere.
"We did not pay heed to the army's advice about moving to safer areas and heavy shelling of our villages yesterday by Pakistani troops left five people dead," said Ragbir. "Now we are leaving and waiting for the bus to take us to a shelter." The state government had made arrangements for providing shelter to 18,000 to 20,000 people in various camps in the safer zones. "We have evacuated 1,000 people while some left on their own and went to stay with their relatives," Jammu District Magistrate Ajeet Kumar Sahu said.
Several critically-located border hamlets close to the border have been deserted due to the shelling and even Arnia town, after a mortar shell attack this morning, wore a deserted look as people scrambled to safety.
"We expect that a large number of the border people, who do not have bunkers in their houses or their villages, will come out tonight due to the fear of shelling," said Sepoy Rattan Kumar of Dogra Regiment, which has set up tents at the high school in Deoli.
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